Nepal Himalaya issues being addressed by the Nepal Mountaineering Association

27 Jun, 2014

Editor's Note: UIAA Honorary Member Ang Tshering Sherpa, president of
the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) has filed a report touching on a number of
meetings and issues related to climbing and mountaineering in the Nepal
Himalaya.

Delegates at the UAAA Meeting in Hong Kong (Photo: NMA for UIAA)

From Ang Tshering
Sherpa:

I, as a President Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) and
Vice President of UAAA headed the three-member Nepalese delegation to attend
the UAAA (Asian Mountaineering and Climbing Federation) Council meeting and other side meetings. The Nepalese delegation
members were:

Mr. Ang Tshering Sherpa, President of NMA

Mr. Rajendraman Shrestha, Secretary of NMA

Mr. Tika Ram Gurung, Treasurer of NMA

During the meeting many questions were raised to our
delegation such as the Mt. Everest incident in Spring 2014, commercial and non-commercial
mountaineering and adventure tourism, traffic on Mt. Everest, fixing of ladder
at the Hillary Step of Mt. Everest, garbage on Mt. Everest, impact of Climate
Change and Global Warming in the high Himalayan regions and the threat of
glacial lake outburst floods. To respond to these points, I as President of NMA
and Honorary member of the UIAA addressed the gathering several times during
the two day's event.

A summary of my talk, reflecting the view of the Nepalese
Delegation, is given below:

1. Everest Incident:
Informed to the UAAA Council meeting, that an avalanche hit Khubu Icefall, near
Camp 1 at the height of 5800m of Mt Everest on 18 April morning at 6:45 am,
killing 13 mountaineers and 3 still missing. The avalanche came sweeping from
the Khumbu Icefall and hammered over the climbing Sherpas, who were heading to
Camp I to carrying logistics, to set up camps and fix ropes for the climbers of
different expedition teams.

The site is at an
elevation of 5,800m, in between the base camp and Camp I. NMA's Executive Board
Member Dorje Khatri also died in the same incident. All the Nepalese climbers
died and missing in the avalanche are equal for Nepal Mountaineering
Association (NMA) and we don't want any climber to be ignored in the course of
receiving financial assistance. It is also worthwhile to mention that Ministry
of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) has already decided to give us
the responsibility to look after the management of education of the children of
the deceased mountaineers. That is why we are in the process of creating basket
fund for the support of surviving members. Hence we have created an account
named Mountaineering Disaster Relief and Educational Support Fund, briefly
called MDRES Fund, in which donations received from all over the world will be
deposited. The fund will be used for the support of children of mountaineers
died not only on 18 April, but also for the children of deceased mountaineers,
who may lose lives in future incident.

A committee is formed with following the members:

Mr. Ang Tshering Sherpa - President NMA and Convener

Mr. Santabir Lama - 1st VP NMA

Mr. Deebas Bikram Shah - 2nd VP NMA

Mr. Thakur Raj Pande - GS NMA

Mr. Rajendra Shrestha - Secretary NMA

Mr. Tika Ram Gurung - Treasurer NMA

Chief of Mountaineering Section, Government of Nepal

Miss. Chhurim Sherpa - Central Executive Member NMA

Mr. Pertemba Sherpa - Renowned Mountaineer and Advisor
NMA

Dr. Nima Namgyal Sherpa - Convener- Medical and Rescue
Committee, NMA

Mr. Dawa Gyalgen Sherpa - Convener - Welfare Committee,
NMA

Mr. J.P. Lama - Member of NMA

Mr. Pasang Dawa Sherpa - Member of NMA

Associate Members:

President, Trekking Agents Association of Nepal

President, Expedition Operators Association of Nepal

President, Himalayan Rescue Association

Director, Nepal Tourism Board

President, Nepal National Mountain Guide Association

President, Nepal Mountaineering Instructor Association

The detail of the fund account number is mentioned below

Bank name: Nabil Bank Ltd

Address:Maharajgung, Kathmandu, Nepal

Swift: NARBNPKAAccount

Name: NMA-MDRES FUND

A/c no: 1501017500227

Similarly, the ministry is also planning to handover NMA the
management of few more peaks and from the income generated, certain amount of
the fund will be used for MDRES FUND. These two decisions helped in the
increment of our morale to request to all our concerned friends and association
for the extension of their support for the welfare of families of Nepalese
mountaineers.

It is worthwhile to mention that Seven Summits Actions for
Sustainable Society (SSASS), Japan should be appreciated for its generous
support for the surviving members of the climbers. Ken Noguchi, President of
SSASS, who initiated and showed interest to support for the families, hence he
committed to support of US $ 100,000: (One Hundred Thousand US Dollar) and Dr.
Lee In-Jeung, President of UAAA’s contribution of US$ 3,200: (Three Thousand
Two Hundred US Dollar).

We would like to extend our request to all the friend of
Nepal to help in achieving our objective to take care of the families of
deceased mountaineers, who may die during mountaineering in future.

In the aftermath of the terrible tragedy that took the lives
of 16 climbing Sherpas, I think many people around the world would be
interested in learning more about the daily lives of the "fabled"
Sherpas. It would also be very good to show the human side of Sherpa; that they
aren't just machines that climb mountains; that they too have hopes, fears, and
aspirations. The century long reputation of the entire Sherpa community's hard
work, dedication, deliberation, honesty, courage and sacrifices for the sake of
putting so many climbers on the top of Mt. Everest and other Himalayan peaks
will remain forever.

2. Scholarship and
financial support for the children of deceased mountaineers of Everest accident
2014: After series of consecutive MDRES Fund Committee meetings held at
NMA, the committee identified 31 children from the Mount Everest Avalanche
Victims of 18 April 2014. It was decided that Nepal Mountaineering Association
will provide scholarship and financial support to children and students for the
Bachelor Degree. Based on the meetings, the committee has decided to provide
financial help of NRs. 5000: (five Thousand Rupees) per month to the child
until Kinder Garden level - from this Nepalese fiscal year. Students from grade
1-5 will be provided NRs. 5000 (Five Thousand Rupees) per month, from grade
5-10 NRs. 7,000: (Seven Thousand Rupees) per month and for college students
NRs.10, 000: (Ten Thousand Rupees) per month for this year. From next
educational year, the committee decided to give full scholarship for studying
at one of the best Boarding School and College in Kathmandu

3. Newly opened 104
Peaks including UAAA Peak: Recently the Government of Nepal opened 104 new
peaks including UAAA Peak (6476m) on the basis of my sub-committee recommendation.
Also I am pleased to inform this distinguished UAAA Council members that with
my sub-committee recommendation of considering their great contributions in the
field of mountaineering and mountain tourism, Nepal Government opened Hillary
Peak (7681m), Tenzing Peak (7981m), Herzog Peak, Lechenal Peak, UIAA Peak
(6063m) and Peak Hawley. Now the total
number of opened peaks in Nepal is 414 peaks. Nepal Government managed 384
peaks and NMA managed 33 lower peaks.

4. 2014 Asian Joint
Expedition on newly opened UAAA Peak (6476m): UAAA expedition commission
decided the 2014 Asian Joint Expedition on newly opened UAAA peak (6476m) in
the Mustang Area from September 17th to October 8th 2014.

5. Conservation and
Clean up Campaign of both Mt. Everest and Mt Fuji: Both Mt. Everest and Mt.
Fuji are great mountains, serving as cultural and spiritual icons of Nepal and
Japan respectively. Both are hailed as global heritage - Mt. Fuji and Mt.
Everest are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. At the moment both the
mountains are facing serious environmental challenges including Climate Change.
The communities in both countries, particularly those living around these
iconic mountains, can benefit immensely through mutual collaboration.

There is an
increasing intent on the part of the civil societies in both Japan and Nepal to
further strengthen people-to-people contact between the two countries to
exchange ideas, to learn from each other, and to take concerted actions to
fight their common challenges.The civil society organizations of Japan and
Nepal intend to expedite Sister Mountain Exchange and Learning Program to
conserve and maintain pristine environment at and around Mt. Everest and Mt.
Fuji and to pave the way for collaboration among the mountain communities of
Nepal and Japan in their fight against Climate Change.

expedite exchange of information, technology and
resources among the communities at both ends to help make communities resilient
to climate change,

engage in mutually beneficial Communication, Campaigns
and Public Relations activities, and

engage with governments of our respective countries to
strengthen and deepen the bilateral government to government collaborative
activities around promoting sustainable mountain tourism and fighting Climate
Change.

Once again, I would like to express my sincere thanks to Mr.
Ken Noguchi and his organization SSASS for the kind support and I hope this
cooperation will open the door to all the interested donors to be involved in
this noble cause. I also would like to request to all our friends about the
government's decision as an attempt of one door policy to forward support for
the bereaved families of Nepalese mountaineers, who left this earth during the
expedition.

6. Peak Profile: Government of Nepal has formed a 19 member
Peak Profile Sub-Committee under my convenership. The Government of Nepal
assigned 496 peaks to the committee to prepare the detail peak profiles. The
profile will contain all the detail information of mountain in digital format
as well as booklets, which will make easier to plan for the expedition teams. I
am leading Peak Profile Preparation Committee with 19 members from various
expert and technical fields.

There are several remarkable achievements Nepalese climbers
are attempting. Among them the most remarkable are the Nepalese Women Seven
Summit team and the First Nepalese Women K2 Expedition team to K2 to
commemorate K2 Diamond Jubilee Celebration 2014. Both the expedition teams are
supported by NMA.

8. Park Young Seok
Climbing Competition: Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) in financial
assistance from Park Young Seok Foundation started organizing Park Young Seok
climbing competition since last year. The event was organized in coordination
with Korean Alpine Federation and International Federation of Sports Climbing
which was entirely funded by Park Young Seok Foundation and North Face and
organized in the birth anniversary of Park Young Seok on 2nd November 1963.

9. Memorandum of
understanding signed with Park Young Soek Foundation on 6th November: NMA
signed memorandum of understanding with Park Young Seok Foundation, Korea for
the purpose of distribution of monthly scholarship to the students recommended
by NMA. The scholarship is funded by Park Young Soek for 5 (Five) students with
the support of US$ 100 (One Hundred US Dollar) per student per month. The
scholarship will get continuation till the students complete their higher
secondary education; provided that they clear annual school examination with
success.

10. Peaks below 5800m
are free for climbing: As per the recommendation of our committee,
Government of Nepal decided to give free access to all peaks below 5800m. I
hope this will be beneficial to all climbers.

11. Commercial and
non-commercial mountaineering and adventure tourism: The mountaineering and
adventure tourism in developed countries and under developed countries are
completely different situations. In developed countries, mountaineering is
perceived as a sport, adventure, leisure activity and a source of additional
income. Whereas in less developed countries, it is a fundamental source of
livelihood where many are surviving on a hand to mouth basis. It is requested
to the UIAA to carefully assess local circumstances before passing judgment on
appropriate climbing styles.

12. Fixing of ladder
at Hillary step: Nepal has not made any decision regarding the fixing of a
ladder at the Hillary Step on Mt. Everest. Nepal strongly opposes any formal
recognition of judgments and criticisms about this project without first
consulting with the Nepalese delegation.

The Nepalese authorities receive many suggestions and ideas
which include the idea to fix a ladder at the Hillary step, Yellow Band, just
like the ladder that is fixed at the second step (8600m) on the China Side of
Mt. Everest. Mt. Everest is an international icon and a natural world heritage
site, so of course it goes without saying that Nepal is very conscious and
concerned about the impacts of the decisions. It is Nepal's intention to
protect the mountains and that does mean that Nepalese authorities should
listen to new ideas, deliberate on their consequence and make informed and
democratic decisions.

13. Traffic on Mt.
Everest: In the last few years a lot of criticism has been circulating on
the issue of traffic jams on Mt. Everest, that there are traffic jams on her
slopes. The traffic jams in previous years were caused because of delay in rope
fixing due to a lack of proper coordination, bad weather and accidents. Nepal
learnt from the previous years and took corrective action in the year 2013, and
as a result there wasn't a single report of traffic jam that year.

In 2013, the Nepal Government authorized the Expedition
Operators Association to coordinate the rope fixing works officially. This led
to a strong rope fixing team being assembled, good quality equipment used,
double ropes were fixed at bottle necks and the ropes were fixed to the summit
in the first week of May. This helped the climbers going for the summit at
different times of the many remaining days of May, bottlenecks were easily
passed through and the rope was clearly identifiable due to its uniform colour
and quality. This resulted to a safer and more secure climbing season with no
reports of traffic jams. These improvements will continue in the future.

14. Garbage on Mt
Everest: Rumor has it that Mt. Everest has become pile of garbage. There is
a misconception that Mt. Everest is a dirty mountain. In fact, if you speak
with many international mountaineers, they will testify that Mt. Everest is
amongst the cleanest of the popular peaks. The name of Mt. Everest being a
dirty mountain started in the 1980s when international publications featured it
as a "garbage dump." Since then, great efforts have been made and
government policies have been implemented to clean up the mountain with a great
deal of success. For example, my son, Dawa Steven's own effort on the Eco
Everest Expeditions has collected over 15,000 kgs of old garbage from the
slopes of Mt. Everest so far. Also more than 800 kgs of human waste produced by
our own expedition teams and 5 dead bodies brought down from the slope of Mt.
Everest for dignified burial and funeral. It is impossible to say how much old
garbage remains buried and hidden under the glacier ice but each year as the
ice melts and the glacier moves, any garbage that is uncovered on the surface
is quickly collected and disposed. So, it is safe to say that each year, Mt.
Everest is becoming cleaner and cleaner.

15. Waiver of Visa
Entry Fee for Mt. Everest Summiteers: NMA is also lobbying with government
to waive visa fee for Everest Summiteers (Only those who summitted from Nepal
side of Mt. Everest). We think this will make Mt. Everest climbers who are
honored in foreign countries participate in the promotion of Nepal’s mountain
tourism. In addition to this, Mt. Everest summiteers should be provided with an
identity card to express the appreciation and value that is placed upon them by
Nepal.

16. Suggestions
regarding Liaison Officers Team: It is now widely accepted that the current
policy regarding the assignment of a Liaison officers on every permit has
become impractical, inconvenient and unnecessary. Furthermore, incapable and
un-present liaison officers being sent at Mountaineering peaks have become an
embarrassment to Nepal and is harming Nepal’s image internationally. Therefore,
it is necessary for the government to create an integrated Liaison Officers’
team with their own independent camps from where they can work effectively. The
camps must be equipped with hand held and base set radios, telephones/mobile
phones, satellite phones, satellite Internet and fax machines (for official
documentation).

Currently, it is mandatory to assign a Liaison Officer for
an expedition to peaks above 6500m. It is clear to see in the statistics that
this has made these peaks less attractive to climbers, due to the high cost of
accommodating a Liaison Officer. We
therefore recommend that the minimum altitude for a Peak that requires an L.O.
to be 6800m. This is in accordance with the practice in our neighboring
countries.

17. Proposal of
Rescue Cell Establishment: Climate Change will continue to play a major
role on Himalayan climbing and there is very little Nepal can do to stop this.
However, it is critical for us to adapt. As it is becoming clear that climbing
in the Himalaya is becoming more dangerous and technical with the passage of
time, it is necessary for Nepal to create a Rescue Cell to respond to these new
dangers to climbers. The Rescue Cell must be formulated from highly trained,
fully equipped and experienced Nepali personnel from various disciplines and
backgrounds. The team must remain in a constant acclimatized state and be able
to immediately dispatch in response to emergencies in the mountains. Nepal will
need the technical and financial support of all UIAA and UAAA member
federations and governments to make this project a reality.

18. Regarding Human
Waste management on the Mountains: The Government must make mandatory the
use of toilet bags above base camp for human waste management and to make the
concerned agency responsible for the proper disposal of those bags by bringing
them down from the mountain and disposing them as prescribed by the local
authorities.

19. Diamond Jubilee
celebrations of various 8000m Peaks: As the year 2014 marks the Diamond
Jubilee of the first ascent of Mt. Cho-Oyu, NMA has suggested that the
government should waive the Royalty Fee for Mt. Cho-Oyu for that year. In the
past 20 years only 2 climbers have ascended Mt. Cho-Oyu from Nepal side, so
this decision to waive off the Royalty Fee may encourage and increase the
number of climbers attempting to climb Mt. Cho-Oyu. Similarly, the same should
be done for the Diamond Jubilee of Mt. Kanchenjunga and Mt. Makalu in 2015 and
the Diamond Jubilee of Mt. Manaslu and Mt. Lhotse in 2016.

It is important for the Government to celebrate these
anniversaries as it helps in bringing media attention to Nepal’s tourism
industry which will promote the peaks specifically, boosts up the image of
Nepal and provides appropriate opportunities for Nepal to announce the
developments and introduces new changes to improve mountain tourism.

20. Impact of Global
Warming, Climate Change and Glacial Lake Outburst Floods: The impact of
climate change is highly visible and noticeable in the high Himalayan Region.
The rise of temperature in high Himalayan region is double the global average
temperature rise. Therefore the white snowy peaks and glaciers are melting
faster, transforming them into huge glacial lakes which are a great threat to
the people living downstream. The UIAA's knowledge of mountain geography and
ecosystems allows it to be highly influential witness to climate change in our
time and to extend that influence beyond the mountain community to everyone
around us.

Our mountains are our heritage, glory, identity, prestige
and the future of our nation. The mountain region needs conservation and
sustainable development for the present and for posterity. And with this very
goal, the international mountaineering fraternity should play a very vital role
by creating awareness for the conservation of the mountain environment and
carry out various developmental activities at the local level.Saving our
Himalayas means saving ourselves, our future generations because the Himalayas
are the Water Towers for three billion people in Asia. As per some scientists
and environmentalists, by the end of this century, all the white snow peaks and
glaciers will melt away and the glacial lakes will drain out. If the Water
Tower for world’s almost half population is empty, it will not only create
environmental problems but will create humanitarian crisis and political
problem on a scale never seen before.

Achievements and
Developments at the UAAA Council meeting 2014:

• Addressed criticism on Nepal regarding the negative media
coverage in recent times and regained the image of Nepal as a safe and
welcoming mountaineering destination.•

• Conveyed to the international mountaineering community to
understand Nepal's sincerity and positivism in addressing concerns and problems
in Himalayan Mountaineering and environmental protection.

• Made UAAA aware of Nepal's vulnerability to Climate Change
and the threats of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods.

• Delegation of other Himalayan Host Countries: Discussing
the challenges and benefits of international recognition of new 8000m peaks,
and also hosting a Himalayan Host Countries meeting in Nepal in the near
future.

• Chairman and members of the commissions who are
responsible for internationally recognizing the new 8000m peaks: Lobbying for
Nepal's interests and pledging support to the project, as international
recognition of these peaks will be greatly beneficial to the economy as well as
employment generation of Nepal as a whole.

• Chairman and members of mountaineering commission,
expedition working group, mountain protection commission and access commission:
How to work closer with the UIAA (International Climbing and Mountaineering
Federation) and UAAA for better promotion of Nepal's mountain tourism and
protection of the mountain environment.

• Chairman and members of International Ski-Mountaineering
Federation: Discussed the possibility to explore the possibility of
ski-mountaineering in Nepal. They are ready to give technical expertise and
extend cooperation if Nepal should require their assistance.

BRIEF REPORT ON THE
UIAA MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEETING IN MUNICH 2014:

The management committee meeting of UIAA (World
Mountaineering and Climbing Federation) was held in Munich, Germany from 23rd -
25th May 2014. The UIAA is the highest international governing body of all
mountaineering, climbing and mountain tourism activities in the world. The
General Assembly was attained by officials of national alpine federations and
national mountaineering federations from all over the world. Also participating
were Honorary Members of UIAA, Executive Board Members, Management Committee
Members and the Commission Presidents of UIAA.

Being an Honorary Member, I participated in all the UIAA
Management Committee meetings, Executive meeting and various UIAA Commission
Presidents' meetings.

During the meeting many questions were raised to the
Nepalese delegation such as the Mt. Everest incident in Spring 2014, commercial
and non-commercial mountaineering and adventure tourism, traffic on Mt.
Everest, fixing of ladder at the Hillary Step of Mt. Everest, garbage on Mt.
Everest, impact of Climate Change and Global Warming in the high Himalayan
regions and the threat of glacial lake outburst floods. To respond to these
points, I (Honorary member of the UIAA) addressed the gathering several times
during the two day's event. A summary of his talk, reflecting the view of the
Nepalese Delegation, are given below. A full transcript of his talks is in
attachment.

Brief Report on the
SSASS and Fujisan Club Meeting and Press Meet in Tokyo, Kawaguchikoguchi and
Yamanashi, Japan on 2nd June – 5 June 2014:

After the Council meeting of UAAA (Asian Mountaineering and
Climbing Federation) which was held in Hongkong, I flew from Hongkong to Narita
Airport in Japan on 2 June to attend the Seven Summit Action for Sustainable
Society and Fujisan Club’s meeting and Press Meet from 3rd – 5th June 2014.

During the meeting and press meet, we discussed many issues
such as the Mt. Everest incident in Spring 2014 and initiation of SSASS,
specially SSASS President Mr. Ken Noguchi’s effort, commercial and
non-commercial mountaineering and adventure tourism, traffic on Mt. Everest,
garbage on Mt. Everest and Mt. Fuji and clean of campaign in 2015 for both Mt.
Everest and Mt. Fuji at the same time, impact of Climate Change and Global
Warming in the high Himalayan regions and the threat of glacial lake outburst
floods.

It is our strong belief that Nepal Mountaineering
Association and Nepal Government must continue to attend these extremely
important global organizations, so that Nepal's interests can be met, concerns
can be voiced and cooperation can be strengthened.